82 
ILLUSTRATED STOCK DOCTOR. 
The Body. 
“The whole fore-quarters thin in front, and gradually increasing m 
depth and width backward, yet of sufficient breadth and roundness to 
insure constitution ; back should be straight and the loins wide, the hips 
rather high and well spread ; pelvis roomy, long, broad and straight, 
hook bones wide apart; quarters long, tolerably muscular and full m 
their upper portion, but moulding into the thighs below winch should 
have a degree of flatness, thus affording more space for a full uddei , the 
flanks well let down, but not heavy, ribs, behind, springing out very 
round and full, affording space for a large udder— the whole carcass thus 
acquiring increased volume toward its posterior portion. 
“ Wc see that the points as given are those of utility, and that at this 
stage the udder-points uud body-points are correlated. 
The Skin. 
,< i n connection with the body and the udder, the skin is of great value 
in assisting our judgment. Between the portion of the external covering 
used for leather, and the muscle, there occurs a layer ot cellular tissue, 
which contains a larger or smaller amount of fat cells, and the mellow 
handling caused by these cells indicates a free circulation throughout this 
meshwork. 
“The skin varies from a thin, papery hide, covered with silky hair, tc 
r thick, supple, elastic hide, well coated with hair, on the one hand, am 
a similar variation, with harsh hair and coarseness, on the other. I he 
thin papery hide indicates quick fattening and a delicate constitution ; 
the thick, clastic hide cushioned on fat, and which on the flank comes 
into the hand almost without grasping, indicates the height of vigor, 
accompanied by the fattening tendency, and the possessor of this hand- 
ling endures climatic changes, low quality in his food, and neglect, with 
remarkable hardihood, and quickly responds to full feed and good care. 
The harsh handler is a dull feeder, consumes much food, and generally 
contains more than a just proportion of offal or waste. In the Ayrshire 
cow we desire neither of these extremes, for it is in the milk pioduct 
that wo wish the food to be utilized, and it is almost an unchanging law 
of nature, that deficiency in one direction must be compensated for y 
excess in another direction, and vice versa. At any rate, the cow that 
lays on fat too quickly is seldom a first class milker; and how well 
known is it that the cow of large yield milks down her condition! A 
cow that has a moderately thin, loose skin, of sufficient elasticity and 
suppleness of touch, without being fat-cushioned, as it were, with hair 
soft and mossy, or woolly, if of correct form otherwise, will usually milk 
